The X3D^TM standard supports a large variety of capabilities. Support in X3D-based applications may vary depending on the needs to the market.

• CAD data - Translation of CAD data to an open format for publishing and interactive media
• Animation - Timers and interpolators to drive continous animations; humanoid animation and morphing
• User interaction - Mouse-based picking and dragging; keyboard input
• Navigation - Cameras; user movement within the 3D scene; collision, proximity and visibility detection
• Physical simulation and real-time communication - Humanoid animation; geospatial datasets; integration with Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocols
• Scripting - Ability to dynamically change the scene via programming and scripting languages
• Spatialized audio and video - Audio-visual sources mapped onto geometry in the scene
• Networking - Ability to compose a single X3D scene out of assets located on a network; hyperlinking of objects to other scenes or assets located on the World Wide Web
• 3D graphics and programmable shaders - Polygonal geometry, parametric geometry, hierarchical transformations, lighting, materials, multi-pass/multi-stage texture mapping, pixel and vertex shaders, hardware acceleration
• 2D graphics - Spatialized text; 2D vector graphics; 2D/3D compositing
• User-defined objects - Ability to extend built-in browser functionality by creating user-defined data types